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The Solar System: Fun Facts

  • The Sun is 330,000 times larger than the Earth.
  • Most of the mass of the Solar System is the Sun.
  • Everything orbits in the same direction.
  • The Sun is just one star in 200 billion in the Milky Way.
  • Venus, not Earth, is the best-mapped planet in the solar system, with 98% of its surface mapped.
  • The space between Mars and Jupiter is filled with a population of irregularly shaped chunks of rock and metal called asteroids. Scientists believe the asteroids are pieces of a planet that never formed.
  • Earth's moon is large enough to cover the sun completely from Earth's point of view.
  • Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
  • One of Saturn's moons called Hyperion is shaped sort of like a hamburger patty and rotates chaotically because of the gravitational influence of nearby Titan, another of Saturn's many moons.


Fun Websites
  • Go here to play fun games and learn more about the Solar System.
  • Go here to watch an interesting video on the Solar System.